Did you always know you wanted to be a nurse?

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Or was this something that you eventually discovered?

I just graduated from high school and I'll be the first to say that I've gone down a list of all the possible majors I could declare.

Yes, I know most would call me fickle because I changed what I wanted to do quite frequently. I think it also gave me the opportunity to explore ALL of my options.

I entered high school and I absolutely loved graphic design. The love for that eventually went away. It's fun but it's not a passion. I also loved English. But I realized I just didn't want to be teaching grammar to students 8 times a day. I was interested in anthropology but the reality is, without a PhD. It's pretty much a worthless degree.

I wanted to be a police officer, because I have this desire to protect and help others. It's honestly what I wanted to do more than anything. Which is why right now I'm declared as Criminal Justice. But the fact is, I know that degree will serve me no purpose. I've talked to a few officers and they've told me the same thing. They don't care what degree I have.

I was interested in Athletic training so that I could be a physical therapist but that's just too many years of school and too much debt. I won't be happy. I was going to do accounting since I'm good with numbers but I know I'll want to kill myself after a few years lol

So when I really looked into nursing I saw how much I loved the idea of what I would do. And with all the information I've seen, and heard, I know this is what I want to do. Maybe if I can't get a job as a nurse I'll go for law enforcement but still. I know becoming an RN is really what I'd love to do now.

Again, these things went through my mind for years. It's not like i thought of all these things two minutes ago. High school was definitely a time where I got to think about what I wanted. And finally things are coming together.

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NO. in fact, I hated the idea of being a nurse but now I will be so so so grateful if I get accepted to Nova's nursing program here in Florida. I never knew what I wanted to do exactly. I went from Math teacher, to chemistry, to pharmacy, then to what I was running away from Nursing. It's really what I want to do.

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To answer your question, no. I'm replying to this for a reason. I make that point at the end.

Honestly, I'm interested in the physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and "treatments," if you will, and I think that's what has attracted me more to the field than anything else. Let it be said, I'm no nurse. However, I start back at my old alma mater in a couple of weeks to get a second bachelor's degree in the field. I'll only be taking the actual nursing department courses since at some point I've taken the other stuff.

I guess I always like learning about the health and medical areas in elementary and high school so while in college I took an elective EMT course as well as several biology and other science courses. A year passed and I took the full paramedic courses, and end up graduating with my bachelor's degree from one school and the paramedic program at the same time.

The majority of my time since then has been spent in law enforcement with some side jobs as a paramedic.

I'm not sure I'll absolutely and completely change fields (that idea changes by the minute), but right now I have the time to go so I'm doing it, plus it's always good to have other job options in this line of work. For years I've considered a paramedic to RN program, but there isn't one in a location convenient for me so I've never pursued it.

To speak quite frankly, a criminal justice degree is nothing more than an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of wall decoration. It'll get you no farther in the criminal justice professions than any other degree so major in something you like and preferably useful. I have said many times that if I were starting college at 18 years of age again I would major in nursing and still have done the paramedic thing too. I do encourage you to wear the blue suit. It's addictive and there are some articles out on the internet explaining physiologically why that is so, but it's fun and you can make a definite impact on both individuals and your community. I often regret not staying an urban patrol officer with no other responsibilities.

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nope. I wanted to be a 1.doctor 2.Dentist 3. Pharmacist and still want to be.

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Specializes in Electrophysiology, Medical-Surgical ICU.

I've always wanted to be a nurse since i was 7 and i'm and in nursing school now and i still want to be a nurse...

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice.

I didn't even think of nursing until after my first daughter was born. When I first got out of high school I wanted to be a teacher. Then, I realized I am really not into kids, at least other peoples kids, lol. I was in banking when my daughter was born, but I was bored out of my mind. When she was about 2 1/2 months old she got RSV from day care and ended up in the hospital for two weeks, the first week on a respirator. There was something about being in the hospital that just clicked. I felt at home in an odd way, like I belonged there. That was when I decided to go into nursing.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Nope. I first entertained the idea of being a nurse at around the age of 19 while attending a medical assisting course, and finally enrolled in an LPN/LVN program at the age of 23. I completed the LVN program at age 24, worked in the field for a few years, and earned my RN license at age 29.

Nursing was definitely not a childhood dream for me. Instead, it was a business decision.

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Specializes in Pedi Rehab,Pediatrics, PICU.

Hell no! :) I have however, always wanted to be in the medical field. I have always loved helping others. Since the age of 5, I wanted to be an OB. Then in high school, I wanted to be an Ob-Gyn, NEVER a nurse. I was soooo sure I wanted to be a doc, I couldn't fathom "settling" for a nurse. Graduated a little young with no money for school. I found my way to a federal prog that would pay for comm. college for some majors. I still had no intentions of nursing. I saw radiation therapy as a bridge to becoming a doctor. (Could work as Rad Tech & pay for school). At the time all healthcare professions enrolled once a year in the fall, and the waiting lists were long. As fate would have it, the prerequisites were the same, and it was the first semester that the nursing program opened enrollment to 2x/year. I figured I might as well apply for the spring semester to stand a chance of graduating with something before my fed prog ran out.

During my first semester of clinicals, I absolutely fell in love with nursing! It just felt like this is where I wanted to be the entire time. I still want to go to school and become a practitioner and everything, but I rather enjoy the nursing side of the world.

I think that once you get into clinicals, you'll begin to see what its all about and then you'll be better able to see if its for you or not. :)

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Not a nurse, yet, but I am in LPN/LVN school, and *fingers crossed* should be an official LPN by late 2011. I didn't realize I wanted to pursue nursing until after I took my CNA course. I wanted to do history, international studies, or anthropology, never thought I would like nursing until a few months ago.

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Nope. I didn't decide to be a nurse until I was in my early 30s. Some things had happened in my life that made me decide that I needed to be able to take care, financially, of myself and my kid without relying on anyone else. I had previously had many medical issues and the field of medicine fascinated me, but I didn't want to put in the time required to be an MD. So I chose nursing, and it's been a good fit.

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I'm not a nurse yet, but, no, I did not want to be a nurse growing up. I always wanted to be a genetic engineer. I ended up becoming a statistician with a passion for science and as time went on, my passion became more dimensional--I wanted to help cure and care for the sick. Since I am unable to cure them, I can help them; and nursing just seems ideal for me at this point in my life.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Nope. In fact I wanted to be a vetirinarian. I actually never thought I would want to help people as I've always been shy. In my sophomore year of high school I took a class called Early Child Development. When we were studying pregnancy and different birthing options, watching birthing videos with midwives I realized that I really had a passion for all things related to pregnancy. I mean...this sounds corny but I can feel my soul dance with delight at just the thought of OB stuff. It makes me happy. So I decided that I wanted to be a midwife and researched how to go about that. It turns out that in my state that you have to be a RN to be a midwife. So for the rest of high school I signed up for Allied Health classes and earned my CNA my senior year of high school in Allied Health II. I joined the health occupations club and competed in categories such as medical terminology and medical reading. So since high school I've been on a straight path to nursing because once I decide to do something, it gets done. So now at 23 I'm a RN working on a med/surg floor desperately hoping to break into OB. Meanwhile I'm looking into RN to BSN options in my area.

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